Theft, estafa charges vs ex-LMP exec hangs
A former top official of the Iloilo League of Municipalities in the Philippines (LMP) charged with six counts of qualified theft and one count of Estafa has yet to face up to his former bosses, all chief executives of Iloilo towns.
With nearlyP500,000 in reported cash accountability to the league, Romeo Jessmon Labramonte, sacked LMP executive director, is currently out on bail. Resolution of the cases filed against him hangs even as an earlier negotiation was reportedly arranged for Labramonte to "return" the amount questioned and found "missing" from the LMP's coffers.
To recall, the Iloilo mayors filed estafa raps against said league executive back in March in what was then stated as "questionable withdrawals." More money was then feared to have been lost and collections believed to have been undeposited that caused the league to make an inventory of its finances.
Docketed as Information Sheet (I.S.) No. 466, complainants were Mayor Raul Tupas of Barotac Viejo and Mayor Mariano Malones of Maasin.
Malones in an earlier interview explained that Labramonte was entrusted with the league's reimbursements on expenses incurred on purchases of office supplies. The voucher bore Labramonte's breakdown with checks then issued and signed by the two mayor-complainants. However when encashed, Labramonte allegedly tampered total of six checks and added tens in thousands more.
For instance, a P1,000 check became P81,000 with P80,000 illegally added. Altogether, Mayor Malones said about P440,000 were lost to Labramonte's illegal withdrawals broken down as follow: one P90,000 check, two P80,000 checks, two P60,000 checks and two P50,000 checks.
"He admitted what he did and gave us a land title as sort of collateral and payment for what he did but it was a family property and we can not also use it. So we kept the land title and decided to go ahead file Estafa against him. Last that we know of, he has left Iloilo and maybe is in Roxas City where his wife's family is from," Mayor Malones said then.
The respondent was hired May last year upon the recommendation also of one of the complainants, Mayor Tupas.
For months thereafter, Mayor Malones added, Labramonte appeared to be trustworthy with "excellent interpersonal skills."
Other Iloilo mayors expressed surprise on the incident and pushes for the cases' resolution if only to put closure and order on their finances.